Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday: How to avoid cyber scams

Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday: How to avoid cyber scams

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SALT LAKE CITY — The holiday shopping season is becoming as much or more of a time for Internet surfing as it is for in-store shopping.

Some shoppers will likely brave bustling stores this weekend and donate cash to the bell-ringing Salvation Army representative standing outside. But according to the National Retail Federation holiday webpage, more people will likely sift through online deals on their Web browser and donate to charity via credit card.

This year, 183.8 million people in the U.S. plan to shop online on Cyber Monday — nearly 50 million more consumers than those who plan to shop during Thanksgiving weekend, according to the federation.

On Dec. 1, a New York cultural center and the United Nations Foundation instigates its global day of charitable giving — Giving Tuesday. More than $358 billion was donated through online and offline fundraising last Giving Tuesday.

But with all this online spending, consumers and donors may fall prey to scammers if they are not careful, according to the Better Business Bureau of Utah and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection.

"We receive a lot of complaints from consumers, especially as it gets closer to the holiday season and they haven't received their packages. They start to panic. It happens every year," said Jane Driggs, president of the Better Business Bureau of Utah. "In Utah, I can guarantee that there are dozens of people who are getting scammed."

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The bureau, which rates businesses on ethical behavior, encourages holiday shoppers to use only secure websites, and to look at customer reviews and return policies before purchasing items online.

They also encourage consumers to use credit cards for online payments so the charge can be disputed if the product isn't delivered or the company doesn't live up to its promises.

Justin Millett, 19, of St. George, said he wishes he would have used a credit card to pay for the MacBook Pro he ordered for his sister using Craigslist.

The product was listed under the local section of Craigslist, but the company phone number and address were from Missouri, Millett said, so he requested to talk to the owner of the business.

The seller sounded "so professional and legitimate" on the phone, Millett said, so he purchased the MacBook for $250 using the money transfer company MoneyGram.

When the laptop didn't come, Millett said he reported the company to the Better Business Bureau of Utah through its scam tracker. The business never really existed, according to the bureau.

"Never, ever, ever, ever spend money through MoneyGram or Western Union unless you actually know the person because you cannot get it back," Millett cautions other holiday buyers.

Camille Caswell, 44, of Sandy, said she tries to teach her teenage son that if an online deal looks too good to be true, it likely is too good to be true.

"I tell him, 'If it's a huge website, they probably have enough money to discount their product, but if it's something you've never heard of before, it's not real,'" she said. "It's better to pass up a few good deals than lose your money."

When Caswell receives ads through email, she said she goes directly to the site instead of clicking on the link to avoid counterfeit websites.

"There's really a low risk factor when you know what to look for," Caswell said. "I think people are naive until they are ripped off once, and then they become more careful."

Caswell said she bought a video camera from an independent seller on eBay 10 years ago, and it never came. Since then, Caswell said she's read product and vendor reviews before making purchases and hasn't had a problem.

Venders aren't the only ones who can do the scamming. With so many people entering personal and financial information for online orders, the days surrounding Thanksgiving is a prime time for hackers.

The Division of Consumer Protection encourages buyers to avoid public Wi-Fi spots, to update their anti-virus software and to download apps from trusted sources to prevent such attacks.

"It really is a buyer-beware situation when you go shopping," Driggs said. "I don't mean for it to sound dire, but it really is up to the customer to do their research."

Daniel O'Bannon, director of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, said it's also important to research charities before donating.

"If people have been taken advantage of, it doesn't take that long to get on the Internet, so that's a really good resource," O'Bannon said.

"At the end of the day, people really give at their own risk, but you can do a lot of things to mitigate that risk, such as making sure they are registered and doing an online search, to help get those charitable dollars where you are trying to get them," he said.

To register in Utah, a charity must declare who it is and what it's about, and submit financial statements to the division. If a charity is not registered, that may be a warning flag, O'Bannon said.

He suggests potential donors check the consumer protection website for a breakdown of how charities spend their money before donating.


Tori Jorgensen is a Deseret News intern and current communications major at Southern Utah University. Find her on Twitter @TORIAjorgensen Email: vjorgensen@deseretnews.com

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